He doesn't notice her- really notice her- until she starts going with Kennan. Before she had been fourteen and fifteen, the same age as his Queenscove cousins, and he thought of them mostly as little girls. Keladry is smarter and surer, and a much better fighter, but- still. He sees her in this almost brotherly light.
Except then redheaded oafish squires come into the picture, kissing his Kel in haystacks, and Dom starts feeling overprotective in a way that is definitely not brotherly. He tries telling himself it is at first, but when he starts wishing that he was the one holding Kel to him instead of Kennan, he is forced to change his opinion of her.
He tells himself that it will be alright, that she's just infatuated with the boy- who has an arranged marriage anyways- and that he will be there at the end.
She's worth the wait.
